People in Kragerø were disappointed and felt forgotten after the state budget was presented last week. They didn’t understand why they didn’t get money for free ferries. What they didn’t know was that the county council had already received money to cover just that. The county municipality, on the other hand, had misunderstood and used the money elsewhere. – Worst I’ve heard Wenche Hestvik Ellegård is one of around 500 permanent residents on the islands in the Kragerøskjærgården. She depends on the ferry to get to the mainland. Ellegård feels misled. – That’s the worst thing I’ve heard. I couldn’t believe my ears. In a way, we have been robbed, she says. In the revised national budget, Vestfold and Telemark county council received NOK 3.7 million to secure a free ferry for permanent residents on the islands in Kragerø. The ferry Kragerø runs between the mainland and the islands in the Kragerøskjærgården. Photo: Solfrid Leirgul Øverbø / news The county council has instead used much of the money for free ferry services in Brevik in Porsgrunn. – I think that is very badly done. This is very broken, says Ellegård. – Expect them to clean up Storting representative for the Labor Party in Vestfold and Telemark, Jone Blikra, comes from Kragerø. He is disappointed that the money went to other things than what was intended. – Here, Kragerø is explicitly mentioned in the document. Then you create expectations. This needs to be cleaned up, quite simply, says Blikra. Storting representative Jone Blikra (Ap) expects the county council to clean up. Photo: Randi Berdal Hagen / news He has had many conversations and meetings with the county council in recent days to get clarity on what has happened. – The government has done what it has promised. Now it is up to the county council to ensure that this is put in place, says Blikra. – We have overlooked this County director in Vestfold and Telemark, Arve Semb Christophersen, admits that they have not understood what the money was to be used for. – We have overlooked this and perhaps should have understood. It is not so easy to read this point in the Revised national budget. But now we have got the explanation for it and will of course make this right. County director in Vestfold and Telemark, Arve Semb Christophersen. Photo: Philip Hofgaard / news Christophersen confirms that the money has gone to make the Brevikssambandet free. Some of the money has also gone to the ferry service in Kragerø. The county municipality has had a dialogue with the Ministry of Transport, and spent the last few days re-reading the Revised National Budget. – We received such a low amount of money that we did not understand that it was also to cover that connection. – Did you not read the revised national budget well enough in Vestfold and Telemark? – Maybe we didn’t. We read it, but we may not have understood it quite right. Now they want to clean it up, but … The county director now promises that permanent residents on the islands in the Kragerøskjærgården will get a free ferry. But it’s not quite that simple. Because the money is used up. Now the politicians must deal with the matter and find money for the stretch in Kragerø. – There is not enough money to provide a free ferry on the entire Kragerø-Skåtøy-Stabbestad connection, says Christophersen. Permanent residents on the island of Skåtøy on their way with the Kragerø ferry. Photo: Solfrid Leirgul Øverbø / news According to the county director, the politicians are working to find a solution to achieve what the government has wanted, namely to ensure that permanent residents on islands without a mainland connection get a free ferry. Next year they need NOK 7.8 million for the ferry connections in Brevik and Kragerø. The county director is betting on political treatment of the case before Christmas. – Can Brevik lose the offer they have received? – The politicians must consider how this money should be used correctly and how this should be done. We know what money we have received and we know what was the purpose of it. Then we have to try to find the solution that gives the best result. Popping the champagne Wenche Hestvik Ellegård was so sure that Kragerø would get a free ferry that she had the champagne bottle ready until the day the national budget was presented. The bottle remained unopened and the disappointment was great. When the county council now says they will rectify the situation and find money for the offer she has waited so long for, it is like Christmas Eve for her. – Then I pop the champagne. It will smoke tonight, I promise, she laughs. Wenche Hestvik Ellegård and her friend Gerd Tveit Torstensen are permanent residents on Gumøy in Kragerøskjærgården. Photo: Solfrid Leirgul Øverbø / news
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Residents in Kragerøskjærgården feel robbed after the county council’s ferry blunder – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
